Recently, a scanner is widely used in the printing plate-making field. There are various processing apparatus using an image forming method by scanning. A light source used in these recording apparatus includes a glow lamp, xenon lamp, tungsten lamp, LED, a He--Ne laser, a argon laser or a semiconductor laser. A light sensitive material used in the scanner is required to have various photographic properties. It is essential that the light sensitive material have high sensitivity and high contrast, since short light-exposure time such as 10.sup.-3 to 10.sup.-7 seconds is carried out. In the printing industry high operation efficiency and high operation speed are strongly demanded, and here are needs for increasing a scanning speed and shortening the processing time of the light-sensitive material. The increase of the scanning speed, the increase of a beam number and less beam spots for a high image quality are required for an exposure device (a scanner, a plotter), and high sensitivity, excellent stability and rapid processability for a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material. The rapid processing referred to herein is a processing in which the total processing time is 15 to 60 seconds. The total processing time is a time taken from the entry of the leading edge of a film in the apparatus to the delivery of the leading edge out of the drying zone of the apparatus. The film is conveyed through the developing tank, the cross-over, the fixing tank, the cross-over, the washing tank, the cross-over and the drying zone in the automatic developing apparatus.
It is necessary to enhance developer activity for the rapid processing. The high content of a developing agent or high pH of developer increases the developer activity, but it leads to remarkable deterioration of the developer due to an air oxidation. The use of a large amount of sulfites are used to maintain the developer activity and prevention of the air oxidation of the developing agent. However, when a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material is processed with developer containing sulfites, which have a silver halide solubilizing capability, a large amount of silver halide are dissolved out of the material into the developer as silver complexes. These silver complexes in the developer are reduced to silver by a developing agent and the reduced silver adheres to and accumulates on a developing tank or vat or tanks and rollers of an automatic developing apparatus. These accumulated silver is called silver stains or silver sludge which adhere to the light sensitive material and give a damage to an image. Therefore, a periodical washing or maintenance of the apparatus is essential. In view of the above, the use of a large amount of sulfites produces much silver stains or sludges and has a defect There is a method for the rapid processing which reduces a binder content of a upper protective layer in the silver halide emulsion layer or increases a swelling degree of a hydrophilic colloid layer in a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material. However, this method increases the dissolution amount of silver halide, resulting in the silver stains.
Now, environmental problems are serious in the world, and solution thereof is earnestly desired in the photographic field. Most of photographic waste solutions are dumped into an ocean with incomplete treatment or without any treatment. Environmental deterioration caused by the dumping is a serious problem for a creature. Regulations for waste solutions will be severe in future, and it is expected that the waste solutions must be treated to a higher extent. In the photographic processing, the decrease of the waste solution amount is demanded in view of resource saving, less waste solutions and the decrease of vessels used, and various techniques therefor have been researched. As one of the most effective the decrease of developer replenisher amount is proposed.
However, it is well known that the decrease of a replenishing amount of a processing solution results in silver sludge occurrence due to the increase of a silver ion concentration. As a method for prevention of silver sludge occurrence the addition of a mercapto group-containing organic compound to developer is proposed, but there is a problem that the compound cannot be added to the developer in an amount sufficient to prevent the sludge on account of adverse affects on photographic properties such as desensitization. Particularly in view of rapid processing the addition amount is further restricted on account of lowering of developing activity. The mercapto group-containing organic compound is not satisfactory as an anti-sludging agent and solution of the problem is not reached.
In the light-sensitive material containing a hydrazine derivative or a tetrazolium compound there are problems such as deterioration of dot quality in an image and occurrence of black spots, which are not completely solved.
Thus, a method for processing a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material is strongly demanded, which has a rapid processing property and makes it possible to reduce silver sludge and the replenishing amount of replenisher, and to reduce black spots and improve dot quality.